Design of a Saw Cutting Machine for Wood and Aluminum

摘要

The intensive use of wood in furniture, building, bridges, and of aluminum in transportation and construction, underscores the economic importance of these building materials in North America. Power saws are very useful tools for cutting and shaping such materials; however, they can cause serious hand injuries. In a table saw operation for wood cutting, for instance, the operator's hands are vulnerable as they are used to guide pieces into the saw. In addition, the saw operator faces the risk of material being kicked back out of the saw or of sustaining an eye or respiratory injury due to the presence of sawdust and other debris generating by the operation of the saw. Meanwhile, aluminum cutting requires careful precaution and accuracy. The cutting can be dangerous if not handled properly. The greatest challenge in this regard is securely holding the material being cut. Furthermore, industrial requirements such as pneumatics and three-phase power supply preclude the ready use of such machines on a domestic scale. The cutting capability of existing table saws is coupled in such a way that it cannot cut both wood and aluminum. In this paper, a concept of a saw cutting machine (SCM) is presented using Axiomatic Design to ensure design objectives such as safety, user comfort, usage on a domestic scale and capability to cut both types of materials. In the presented case study, the mapping from Customer Attributes (CAs) to Functional Requirements (FRs) and then respective Design Parameters (DPs) resulted in an uncoupled design, in turn leading to a detailed mechanical design followed by the control system, all based on the aforementioned design objectives.